Mohammed el-Kurd, a Palestinian writer and poet known for his incisive work with The Nation, sheds light on the complex narratives surrounding Palestinian identity. He discusses how Palestinians are often required to curate their stories for Western audiences, sacrificing crucial truths in the process. The conversation dives into the psychological toll on children caught in conflict, the harms of dehumanization, and critiques the notion of the 'perfect victim' imposed by media. El-Kurd's insights reveal the urgent need for a reevaluation of victimhood and resistance in the context of ongoing oppression.

Ralph Nader, a former presidential candidate and fierce consumer advocate, joins to discuss the alarming state of democracy in America. He highlights how corporate power is eroding civic engagement and critiques media's role in stifling grassroots movements. Nader emphasizes the urgency of recognizing our political decay, despite media neglect and suppression. He reflects on past successes in consumer protection and urges listeners to mobilize, reclaiming the power that belongs to the citizens amid rising authoritarian tendencies.

Pankaj Mishra, an acclaimed essayist and novelist, joins Chris Hedges to discuss his book, "The World After Gaza." Mishra argues that the Holocaust's impact is perceived differently globally, particularly in the Global South, which has its own narratives of historical atrocities. The conversation highlights how narratives are weaponized by political figures to manipulate perception, the psychological effects of witnessing atrocities, and the complicated relationship between Holocaust education and Israeli state actions. It calls for a reassessment of historical narratives to better understand current conflicts.

Omar El Akkad, an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist, discusses the moral shortcomings of industrialized nations regarding their treatment of Palestinians. He critiques the hypocrisy of land acknowledgments, highlighting how they often perpetuate colonial narratives. El Akkad also addresses the euphemistic language used in media which allows audiences to distance themselves from brutality. Central to the conversation is the tension between activism and journalism, underscoring how societal complicity shapes our understanding of suffering in conflicts.

Catherine Liu, a professor at UC Irvine and author of 'Virtue Hoarders,' critiques the professional managerial class and its disconnection from the working class. They discuss how the PMC, despite claiming to champion progress, often sidelines genuine worker needs in favor of superficial activism. Liu addresses the Democratic Party’s failures, the erosion of progressive ideals, and the need for unions to resist capitalism. Additionally, they explore the tensions between modern feminism and actual empowerment, advocating for community activism to bridge the disconnect.

Farah El-Sharif, a writer and academic specializing in Islam in Africa and the Levant, discusses the deep-rooted impacts of colonialism and systemic repression in the Middle East. She candidly critiques Muslim leaders' complicity in the suffering of Palestinians and challenges the internalization of the 'war on terror' rhetoric. El-Sharif argues that many relinquish dignity for prosperity while exploring the fragility of Middle Eastern regimes. Her insights highlight a call for solidarity and the urgent need for moral leadership among young Muslims.

Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek Minister of Finance and economist, critiques the downfall of capitalism and introduces his idea of 'Technofeudalism.' He argues that modern digital platforms operate as cloud fiefdoms, replacing traditional markets and creating a new economic hierarchy. The conversation touches on how major tech companies manipulate labor dynamics and user behavior, the influence of financial giants on innovation, and the crisis of digital identity that strips individuals of autonomy. Varoufakis advocates for a collective movement to reclaim economic power.

Mary Shelley, in the preface to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, writes, “Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos.” In the chaos of war and inequity, cartoonist Joe Sacco pioneered the first graphic illustration journalism. Sacco has covered some of the most devastating warzones such as in Bosnia, which gave birth to his book, “Safe Area Gorazde,” and Gaza, which inspired “Footnotes in Gaza,” a book host Chris Hedges calls, “A masterpiece… one of the finest books done on the Palestine-Israel conflict, hands down.”   Sacco joins Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to talk about his continued journey through chaos and how Israel’s genocide in Gaza influenced the newest iteration of his invention, his book “War on Gaza.”   Hedges quotes a question Sacco asks in the book, “Is it genocide or is it self-defense? Let's make everyone happy and say it is both. In that case, we'll need new terminology. I propose genocidal self-defense that should give both sides something to work with.”   Through visual renderings, dark humor and objective reporting, Sacco is able evoke responses to events playing out in ways traditional media can never achieve.   “You will find humor in places like Gaza, places like Bosnia, and it's always of the darkest sort. It's their way of sort of managing their own thoughts, being funny, but understanding the underlying darkness of their humor. And I think I picked that up and I'm reflecting it back,” Sacco tells Hedges.   The two reference several parts of Sacco’s new book, touching on the different ways the genocide has altered life in the West, including academic censorship, the question of democracy and biblical interpretation.   In the end, Sacco says it all comes back to his own personal life and the connection it has with such an atrocity. “I've always had this idea that whatever I'm paying in taxes really just adds up to one small piece of shrapnel. I mean, as a nightmare, I just imagine that all my money is funneled into a small part of a bomb that causes someone to lose their life in Gaza.”

“You can't just sit there and build drones and not talk about who it's serving and who does it help,” says Richard Solomon, PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and member of the Coalition for Palestine at MIT. On this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Solomon and fellow MIT PhD student Prahlad Iyengar detail their battle against the historic institution’s active participation in the genocide in Gaza. Their story exemplifies the repression students face across the country who dare question how their work and labor are used to advance the illegal and morally reprehensible goals of the Israeli military. “What this ultimately means is that MIT's research can enable a genocide and in fact is enabling the ongoing genocide against Palestinians,” Iyengar states plainly. The two students have found themselves in hot water recently following Iynegar’s tepid encounter at an MIT career fair as well as an op-ed authored by the student coalition. Iyengar’s engagement with Lockheed Martin recruiters—where, after politely waiting in line at a career fair, he expressed his discomfort for their involvement in the genocide and climate crisis—resulted in him being charged with harassment and intimidation of the recruiters. The op-ed called out Daniela Rus, director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, for the laboratory’s direct collaboration with the Israeli military. Rus successfully pressured MIT’s paper, The Tech, to retract the article despite presenting publicly available information and real ties to the Israeli military apparatus. “By introducing these technologies and by enabling these technologies,” Iyengar tells Hedges, “what is really being enabled by MIT's research for the Israeli military is the ability for drones to engage in tracking, in facial recognition, in targeting of Palestinians.” Solomon makes clear that the politicization of academic work is not novel and recently, MIT itself has distanced itself from projects that are tied to genocides or wars. “If MIT did it for the genocide in Darfur in 2008, if they could divest from the Draper labs, if they could, at one point, I think in 2022, they ended their relationships with a Russian university that they'd helped establish—I mean, if they can do those things over political crimes and acts and recognize them as political moves, they can also do the same for the Palestinians,” he says.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said, “The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides, at all times.” International law enshrines medical facilities as sanctuaries for those in direst need but as Dr. Rupa Marya tells host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Israel’s attacks on hospitals amidst the ongoing genocide represent a catastrophic violation of this principle. A professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, Marya now faces suspension for speaking out against Israel’s blatant violations of international law. “The killing of healthcare workers [in Gaza] is related to the silencing of healthcare workers here [in the U.S.], and that by silencing us, the medical institutions we are a part of, which have an obligation, professionally and morally, to uphold all life, are actually abetting and enabling genocide,” Marya tells Hedges. Marya describes the horror scenes at hospitals across Gaza. The IDF not only targets hospitals with airstrikes but also enters them to deploy gun strapped drones that kill patients and staff as well as destroy vital medical machines and instruments. “Hamas is not hiding in those machines. This is an attempt to shorten the life of Palestinian people,” Marya says. Mayra, collaborating with a handful of medical professionals and lawyers, is authoring a UN report, addressing what they refer to as “the genocide enablement apparatus of Israel.” Alongside bringing critical attention to the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system, they urge the inclusion of medical professionals future international legal frameworks for defining genocide. “It does not take months to see that this was a genocide. So for those of us who were in touch with the physicians on the ground and the healthcare workers on the ground in October, it was clear that this was a genocide.”